1st Session - 41st Legislature, Private Bills 1, Nov 3, 2016

TIME – 6 p.m.

LOCATION – Winnipeg, Manitoba

CHAIRPERSON – Mr. Jeff Wharton (Gimli)

VICE-CHAIRPERSON – Mr. Nic Curry (Kildonan)

ATTENDANCE – 11 QUORUM – 6

Members of the Committee present:

Hon. Messrs. Gerrard, Micklefield

Messrs. Curry, Ewasko, Ms. Fontaine, Messrs. Graydon, Lagimodiere, Marcelino, Saran, Teitsma, Wharton

PUBLIC PRESENTERS:

Bill 209–The Childhood Cancer Awareness Month Act

Mr. Denis Foidart, Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Support Group

Mr. Jordan Birrell, Team Brody Foundation

Ms. Suzanne Suzio, private citizen

Ms. Abigail Stewart, private citizen

Bill 208–The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Day Act

Ms. Joanne Keeping, Royal Canadian Mounted Police

MATTERS UNDER CONSIDERATION:

Bill 208–The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Day Act

Bill 209–The Childhood Cancer Awareness Month Act

* * *

Clerk Assistant (Ms. Monique Grenier): Good evening. Will the Standing Committee on Private Bills please come to order.

Our first item of business is the election of the Chairperson. Are there any nominations for this position?

Mr. James Teitsma (Radisson): I nominate the member for Gimli, Jeff Wharton.

Clerk Assistant: Okay. Mr. Wharton has been nominated. Are there any other nominations?

Hearing no other nominations, Mr. Wharton, will you please take the Chair.

Mr. Chairperson: Our next item of business is the election of a Vice-Chair. Are there any nominations?

Mr. Wayne Ewasko (Lac du Bonnet): I nominate Mr. Nic Curry.

Mr. Chairperson: Mr. Curry?

An Honourable Member: Yes

Mr. Chairperson: Mr. Curry has been nominated.

Are there any–pardon me. Are there any other nominations?

Hearing none, Nic Curry is Vice-Chair–[interjection] Mr. Curry is elected Vice-Chair.

This meeting has been called to consider the following bills: Bill 208, The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Day Act; Bill 209, The Childhood Cancer Awareness Month Act.

How long does the committee wish to sit this evening?

Mr. Ewasko: To–'til the will of the committee–the work of the committee is complete.

Mr. Chairperson: Is that agreed? [Agreed]

We have a number of presenters to speak tonight as noted on the lists of the presenters before you. On the topic of determining the order of the public presentations, I will note that we do have out-of-town presenters in attendance marked with an 'asteriks' on the list. With this consideration in mind, then, is–in what order does the committee wish to hear the presentations?

Mr. Teitsma: Out-of-town members first.

Mr. Chairperson: Is that agreed? [Agreed]

All right, so before we proceed with presentations, we have a number of other items and points of information to consider. First of all, if there are any else–anyone else in the audience who would like to make a presentation this evening, please register with staff at the entrance of the room. Also, for the information of all those wishing to present, while written versions of presentations are not required, if you are going to accompany your presentation with written materials, we ask that you provide 20 copies. If you need help with photocopying, please speak to–with one of our staff.

As well, in accordance with our rules, a time limit of 10 minutes has been allotted for presentations with another five minutes allowed for questions from the committee.

Prior to proceedings of public presentations, I would like to advise members of the public regarding the process for speaking in committee. The proceedings of our meetings are recorded in order to provide a verbatim transcript. Each time someone wishes to speak, whether it's been an MLA or a presenter, I first have to say the person's name. Then is–this is a signal for the Hansard recorder to turn the mics on or–on and off.

Thank you for your patience. We will now proceed with public presentations.

Bill 209–The Childhood Cancer Awareness Month Act

Mr. Chairperson: Okay, on Bill 209, I would call on Denis Foidart–Foidart, Denis.

Do you have any written material for distribution to the committee?

Mr. Denis Foidart (Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Support Group): I asked just before coming in, but they were going to make some copies, but they'll–you'll probably get them a little bit later.

Mr. Chairperson: Okay, we'll get it distributed then.

Please proceed with your presentation.

Mr. Foidart: Thank you for the opportunity to address this committee. My name is Denis Foidart. I come to you as the father of a beautiful daughter who joined the ranks of angels almost 20 years ago, this after a four-year battle with neuroblastoma.

I also stand before you on behalf of the Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Support Group, a group made up of parents who have travelled or are travelling the roller-coaster cancer journey. We offer emotional support, and although we are not professional counsellors, we can sincerely say, I understand. Sometimes this is so much more comforting and helpful than anything else.

With this bill, we, the cancer families, are hoping that the gold ribbon will become as recognizable as the pink ribbon. You may have noticed on social media: gold, the new pink. It is not so long ago that the pink ribbon was just a pink ribbon. Now it is very recognizable, even to go so far as people associating it with cancer in general, which is not necessarily a good thing. We do not want to take away anything from the efforts of others that–for the fight against cancer, but we do hope to see the awareness, the funding, the research for childhood cancers take its rightful place.

The gold ribbon does not represent any one specific cancer, but all the many childhood cancers in general: the different leukemias, brain and neural tumors, the lymphomas, the sarcomas, the renal cancers, the Wilms tumours, the germ cell tumors, the retinoblastomas, the 'repatic'–the hepatic tumors and others.

When my daughter Natalie was diagnosed with her cancer, we thought to take advantage of the school student insurance policy. Blue Cross, at that time, only recognized leukemia as a childhood cancer on their policy. It was with the help of Dr. Sara Israels here in Winnipeg that Blue Cross was able to change their policy to recognize other childhood cancers.

With the awareness, we will realize that although there may be a 90 per cent success rate for ALL, these numbers do not apply to the other childhood cancers. Many children are now being diagnosed with AML, another form of leukemia that was almost 'inexistent' in children 20 years ago.

My daughter was diagnosed at the age of seven with neuroblastoma. The success rate for this cancer is a mere 50 per cent now, never mind then. For some cancers, the prognosis is probably even less than that. So although we do want to be positive and hopeful in all circumstances, reality sometimes does not allow this.

Increased awareness will hopefully influence organizations like the Canadian Cancer Society and others to include even a small inclusion in the press release. Just a few weeks ago I heard on the radio a message from the Canadian Cancer Society about the advances being made in cancer treatments, which is very good. They included that the most common cancers for women was breast cancer, for men was prostrate cancer, but there was no mention of children cancer.

I seek awareness for the individuals. By this, I mean that if you're not one of the popular cancers, that you still receive the same recognition, the same quality of treatment, the same moral, financial, emotional support. Not everyone gets the good cancer. Yes, there's some of our families have been told this when their child has leukemia–oh, you have a good cancer. I don’t know what good cancer means, but.

* (18:10)

It is important that we value each individual, not only the masses. Whether you're part of a large group or if you are a very rare case, you and yours deserve equal treatment because it is as traumatizing, if not more, when you're the odd one out. I seek awareness that there is no cause for childhood cancer and they are considered rare although worldwide a quarter of a million kids are diagnosed annually. Here in Canada, it's about 1,700. I seek awareness that the incidence of childhood cancers has increased 29 per cent over the past 20 years. I seek awareness that 20 per cent of the childhood cancer survivors die prematurely due to the original cancers or the effects of treatment. I seek aware that more than 50 per cent of the survivors face late effects later on in life from chronic health conditions, including pulmonary, hearing, cardiac and other problems related to cancer and cancer treatment.

I seek awareness that overall childhood cancers are the No. 1 disease killer of kids in North America. Worldwide, 100,000 children die annually; in Canada, approximately 230. I seek awareness that brain cancer tumours has moved up to No. 1 killer of cancer in children this year. There is no cure or remission from it, just stable or NED–no evidence of disease. In Canada, children under three rarely get brain radiation due to the age and developmental damage which reduces the survival rates. In the last six weeks, there have been eight new brain cancer tumours diagnosis in children in Manitoba alone. Children are very rarely considered for any brain tumour cancer trials.

I seek awareness that according to the Childhood Cancer Canada Foundation only 3 per cent of federal funding for research is for childhood cancers, yet kids probably make up approximately 20 per cent of the population. I have heard that children–that childhood cancer research results apply to adult patients but that the reverse is not quite–is not as–is much less applicable.

I seek awareness that pharmaceutical companies fund 60 per cent of all adult cancer research but they do virtually no childhood cancer research because it's not profitable.

I seek awareness that much of the funds raised come from kids with lemonade stands, shaving their heads, et cetera, parents and family members or organizations using the pictures or stories about–of kids on their fundraising material, yet only a very small portion of these funds are applied towards childhood cancers.

I seek awareness that although there are approximately 900 cancer drugs in the drug development pipeline, almost none are for children's cancers.

I seek awareness that in 2015, CancerCare Manitoba lost 30 kids to cancer or complications, and by this I'm not meaning that the kids here in Manitoba do not receive the absolute best treatment available anywhere as comparable into the country. CancerCare Manitoba and all its components are absolutely remarkable.

I seek awareness that the emotional support and well-being of all those involved play a very important role in the success of the medical cancer treatments. We as a support group tried to be there mostly for the parents because it is the parents that can–are best suited to be there for their children. We offer activities and opportunities for connections to the whole family, including siblings, which also suffer the consequences of a family member's cancer.

I seek awareness that curing childhood cancer would be the equivalent of curing breast cancer in terms of person, life, years saved. When you save the life of a child, you save many years of service to society. Their impact is only just starting.

With this bill recognizing September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month here in Manitoba, raising awareness about childhood cancers, letting people know what the gold ribbon symbolizes, it will serve as another building block in Natalie's legacy and the legacy of all the kids we have lost to cancer here in Manitoba.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Mr. Chairperson: Thank you very much, Monsieur Foidart, for your presentation.

Do the members of the committee have any questions for the presenter?

Ms. Nahanni Fontaine (St. Johns): Je veux dire merci pour votre effort ce soir.

Translation

I want to say thank you for your efforts this evening.

English

And I just want to acknowledge your journey and your experience and your wisdom in respect of your presentation here today as a father. And I honour you for being here, and I honour all the work that you do.

So I'm just curious. Does your group receive any funding from anywhere? [interjection]

Mr. Chairperson: Monsieur Foidart.

Mr. Foidart: Pardon me? Oh, sorry. At this time, we are a registered charity, so we do our own fundraising. Right now, the–our biggest fundraiser is a online auction through Facebook.

Mr. Wayne Ewasko (Lac du Bonnet): Denis, thank you very much for not only sharing a little bit of your story but also for coming here yet again. And this is your third trip to the Leg. on Bill 209, and I know I speak for everybody on our side of the House, and I'm sure on the other side as well, that we very much appreciate you coming out and showing, again, the passion towards bringing awareness and the education component as well. There's so many things that you've brought forward today as well. And what we've heard just in the little bit of communication that we've had over Bill 209, to bring that awareness to childhood cancer forward. And this is only the beginning.

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Thank you for coming here, Denis, and sharing with us, bringing to light the incredible need that's there. As someone who's worked in this field before getting into politics, I know first-hand how important it is, and I just thank you for–and your whole group for collectively coming forward. Thanks. Merci.

Ms. Fontaine: So I really appreciate your presentation kind of mapping out for us, actually, some of the discrepancies in some of the public awareness campaigns and how childhood cancer is kind of omitted from some of the–or a good majority of them.

So, you know, tonight, we're–I suspect–I highly suspect that, obviously, this bill will get passed. But, as for personal MLAs, what would you like for us to do? What would you like to see us do in respect of your gold ribbon campaign?

Mr. Foidart: Wow. I hadn't necessarily anticipated that question, I guess.

I guess just the–helping it make–become more aware. And I guess it's going to start with the month of September. Like, that is September, awareness month. We haven't been able to do a whole lot as a group; that's our family camp month, so we're quite busy with that usually. The childhood cancer foundation used to do something for–had tried to do–start something for this September, but it never went too far then.

I guess whatever we can do. Like, I guess, if we can brainstorm, we'll put ideas together and figure out what we can do, I suppose. Sorry I'm not any clearer than that.

Mr. Nic Curry (Kildonan): Thank you, sir, so much for being with us today. Of course, your personal stories are such an important part of this process. But in much of your presentation, you touched on, I guess, the similarities between Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and you talked about the pink ribbon and whatnot and their campaign. Many people kind of recognize awareness of breast cancer with a lot of professional athletics where many professional athletics teams will don pink colours to show awareness on, essentially, an international level, considering some of the things where we associate with, namely, say, the US National Football League.

Do you see this kind of bill as a way that such a thing could happen with childhood cancer awareness where professional athleticism can bring that message internationally, and something like this, could that help in that effort?

* (18:20)

Mr. Foidart: Yes, definitely. Already, the Blue Bombers do one of the games, and this is the second year they've done it. And, like I say, like, the whole pink ribbon, like, 20 years ago, didn't mean anything. And it's gone a big–it's gone far in that time. The gold ribbon was unheard of 20 years ago, at–completely unheard of. Like, even myself being in there, it was–it's come a long way in the last 20 years. And I think something like Bill 209, making it officially recognizable, having a month official like that, that more and more people are going to get on board, more companies, more sports teams, more individuals, everybody's going to get on board and it will help it flourish, it will bring awareness, absolutely.

Mr. Chairperson: Any further questions from the committee?

Seeing none, merci, Monsieur Foidart, appreciate the time tonight. And on behalf of the committee, thank you for coming out.

Bill 208–The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Day Act

Mr. Chairperson: Okay, we will now go back to Bill 208, and I would call Superintendent Keeping to come forward.

Superintendent Keeping, do you have any written materials for distribution to the committee?

Ms. Joanne Keeping (Royal Canadian Mounted Police): No, I don't, Sir.

Mr. Chairperson: Okay, please proceed. Thank you.

Ms. Keeping: Mr. Chairperson, committee clerk and all the committee members, as mentioned, I am Superintendent Joanne Keeping. I am the district commander of the Manitoba east part of the RCMP.

Good evening, I am truly honoured to be speaking here tonight on Bill 208 that recognizes the historic presence of the RCMP in Manitoba. And to say historic is truly fitting. The Mounties were officially formed right here in Manitoba in 1873, when officers and recruits signed on a Lower Fort Garry and settled in for a bitter winter of intensive training. Albeit it's a different level of intensity that we now see at our Depot training academy in Regina.

Then, on July 8th, 1874, 300 members of the North West Mounted Police set forth on the Great March West from Dufferin, Manitoba, to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. I feel quite fortunate to have been in Emerson back in 1993 when there was a re-enactment of the march west, an opportunity to see some of the work that was happening there in the communities–and still remains happening–to bring that life back into Fort Dufferin and the significance of the march west.

However, their job, then, was to establish law and order in support of the main goal of Confederation, to provide for peace, order and good government. Developing and sustaining positive relationships was a clear objective from the onset. In 1876, the North West Mounted Police created and maintained a peaceful affiliation with the many newcomers settling in this country.

The force's co-operative and respectful relationships with all of Canada's people are a key part of our history and of our modern reality, and a mainstay for the future.

Today in Manitoba, the landscape of the RCMP, its role and its members, are considerably different. From those first 300 members we have grown to over 25,000 strong, with 1,200 serving over 99 per cent of the province of Manitoba. And going back to the presentation by Mr. Swan, the province is vast and physically varied, however rich with diversity, strength and energy in its people.

The very first troop of female members commenced training in September of 1974 and graduated from Depot in 1975. Today, women make up over 20 per cent of the force.

I was a part of Troop 26, a French-speaking troop back in 1988, and I have seen over the 28 years the increase in our diversity. We are proud to be an organization that best reflects the communities we serve.

In 2016, the priorities of the RCMP in Manitoba are in part to enhance our service delivery and operational excellence. We are committed to delivering results while being respectful of all people, and we are committed to reducing harm on our roadways and in our communities. Community safety has always been and will continue to be the top of all our RCMP members. We are determined to prevent, deter, reduce crime and the victimization it causes in our community.

However, the best ways to accomplish this is through intelligence-led policing and our community connections. Through these methods, we can determine the root causes of crime, particularly when it relates to domestic violence and the violence against children and youth.

It is interesting that back in the 1870s, however, our officers of the North-West Mounted Police not only performed their regular policing duties, but also assumed some other non-policing responsibilities such as delivering mail, collecting customs fees and even compiling data about the weather.

However, today we are no longer mail carriers but, like our members in the past, we go beyond policing, whether it's handing out candy on Halloween, offering gift cards for people who are obeying our traffic laws, or hosting community barbecues, movie nights in some of our small, rural communities.

We still hold those virtues close at heart because we are a part of the community. The police are the community; the community are the police.

We, however, cannot perform our duties without the close working partnerships with local governments, local businesses, local schools and local people. We all have to be mobilized and engaged, and just being in East District for the past three months I've seen that quite active in many of our RCMP communities. And, as we move forward, nurturing these partnerships remains vital and essential. We rely on Manitobans to help us keep the province safe and secure.

This evening, though, I do want to mention the Safe Roads piece that I earlier referred to, and unfortunately we are currently facing a very high fatality rate on our roads. November is road crash victims month and I'm sure in the near future you'll see the red ribbon campaign by MADD Canada.

Since the beginning of the year, we've had 93 deaths due to collisions, and at the end of 2015 the number was 84. We need assistance of all Manitobans and our partners to practice that safe driving behaviour and report unsafe driving. Seemingly such a small decision can have a massive impact. However, it requires a collective approach. It requires a collective approach to shift the behaviours and the attitudes and view it as a responsibility when we are behind the wheel.

I just thought it important tonight to share that because, I mean, it certainly is an agenda item of myself and also of the RCMP in Manitoba.

I want to thank you again for inviting me here to speak on behalf of the RCMP in Manitoba, and as we heard in October our forces steep in a rich tradition. However, alongside of that rich tradition exists a nature for learning and evolving and moving with the times, exploring new technology, new strategies with communities to meet the ever-changing demands. However, one constant will certainly be our presence and our commitment to this province.

I'm grateful to the honourable Mr. Cliff Graydon, MLA for Emerson, for tabling this bill that honours our organization.

I'm proud–sorry, if I'm–I'm proud, actually, to have worked in Emerson back in 1989 to 1994 before moving up to God's Lake Narrows and working there for a few years. I'm proud to be a member of the RCMP in Manitoba for the last 28 years, and I'm proud to be a district commander of the RCMP now and it's come full circle, so it's an honour to be here tonight.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Day Act will serve as a reminder that our dedication to protecting and serving the people of Manitoba will never waiver. It was there in the past, it is here today and it will remain in the future.

Thank you for bringing this forward.

Mr. Chairperson: Thank you, Superintendent Keeping.

Do the members of the committee have any questions for the presenter?

Hon. Andrew Micklefield (Rossmere): First, I just want to thank you for not only your presentation tonight, which is a interesting overview, but for your daily service over these however many years it's been, and certainly want to honour you as a female in the role, not just in the role, but in a leadership role.

* (18:30)

My brother serves with the RCMP and he's currently recovering from an injury, thankfully not life-threatening, but sustained while serving, and I just want to echo hopefully what you've already heard that we do not take your sacrifices for granted. There are many, sadly too many, sacrifices that make the headlines, but countless other ones that don't, and I'd like to just show respect for those other sacrifices that don't make the headlines, which are nonetheless very real whether it's the shifts or the just being in a situation that can be dangerous every day and not knowing.

So thank you.

Just a question, if I may, about the increase in road deaths. Obviously, 84 in 2015 and 93, I think you said, so far to date, any analysis on the reason for that jump?

Ms. Keeping: I was the officer in charge of the traffic services and road safety for five years prior to assuming the position in Selkirk, and I can say wholeheartedly that that analysis is a daily basis. We take all of the data from collisions, we work collaboratively with MPI's data and also with the Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation and their data, and we can clearly see that the big four still remain the big four, and that is speeding, impaired driving due to alcohol and drugs, seatbelts and distracted driving, which can encompass a number of offences not just with the cellular phone but also with not paying attention while you're driving. So that announces it's clearly there.

However, it's different in the rural areas as opposed to the urban areas, so therefore our strategies to address that have to be different as well.

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Thank you for being here. I want to say thank you to all the members of the force for the work that you do day in and day out, and we appreciate that. We just feel that what you do for us in this province and what members of the force do across the country is phenomenal.

Let me sort of extend the conversation a little bit in terms of the increase in the number of deaths on the road. Of the four major ones, is there any one in particular which has increased this year or recently?

Ms. Keeping: Impaired driving due to alcohol and drugs has been consistently ranging around 37 to 40 per cent over the last five years and that remains the same. As I mentioned earlier, it does vary from whether it's in the cities or out into the rural area.

In behind that speeding, we've tracked the rate of speeds that we're seeing on our Manitoba roadways, and sometimes it's, yes, it's quite shocking, actually, to see the speed that vehicles or–drivers, are driving. And it's important to note that the survivability of a collision depends upon the speed. So we certainly need to address that issue along with impaired driving due to alcohol and drugs.

So, to respond to your question, those would be the two ones that we're seeing in mostly RCMP jurisdictions, which are outside of the city of Winnipeg and Brandon.

Mr. Cliff Graydon (Emerson): I want to thank you today for coming in, Ms. Keeping, it's–we go back a long way. I believe you were just starting in the force at about 2 o'clock in the morning when you pulled me over, and I can tell by the grins on my colleagues' faces that they think that I might've been doing something illegal, but I wasn't. But you were doing your job then.

And I thank you for all of the stuff, you and all your members, for what you do every day. And I know that there's days that you work in the community on your own time, and so on and so forth, with young people, with parents doing a lot of different things in the community that are not related to your policing activity. But the fact that you do have that presence in the community makes such a big difference as well for when you are doing your work.

I thank all of the forces for what they do. And I thought it was important, and I still think it's important, that we recognize, at our generations and the generations of my sons and grandkids, to understand where the RCMP came from. I think that's very, very important.

And so that was the reason bringing this forward, and I appreciate you coming in very much. Thank you.

Mr. Chairperson: The time for questions has expired.

I thank Superintendent Keeping for your presentation tonight. Thank you.

Bill 209–The Childhood Cancer Awareness Month Act

(Continued)

Mr. Chairperson: I would now like to call back Bill 209 and presenter Jordan Birrell from Team Brody Foundation.

Do you have any written materials for distribution to the committee?

Mr. Jordan Birrell (Team Brody Foundation): Yes, I do.

Mr. Chairperson: Okay, please proceed with your presentation.

Mr. Birrell: Good evening, everyone. My name is Jordan Birrell, and I am from the Team Brody Foundation. Before I explain what we do at the Team Brody Foundation, I'd like to let you guys know a little bit about the inspiration and hero behind our organization.

Brody Birrell-Gruhn was born June 19th, 2012, at 7:47 p.m. He was a healthy baby, weighing in at 8.5 pounds. Right from birth, everyone from both sides, his mother's and myself's, were waiting to get in to see him. I'm not exaggerating when I say people gravitated towards Brody. There was something really special about him, whether it was his goofy personality or his big sparkly eyes–he didn't get them from me–but there was just something special about him.

We would all agree that Brody was a healthy baby, healthy child, happy. He started daycare in October of 2014, wasn't a big fan of it, really enjoyed just being at home with mom and dad. We had no idea what was growing inside of him at the time.

In the end of October, he had a little stint at the hospital. He had a little bit of pneumonia, got that cleared. He was still really, really sick, though. They were literally dragging him around at daycare.

It was then we were told he had a really bad ear infection. His ear was actually bleeding, so they told us to come in, Monday to Friday, just get some antibiotics, he's going to be fine; that the swelling wasn't going down, his ear was still bleeding. So on the Thursday of that week, from the Monday to Friday, mom asked for a CT scan, and that's when they found the tumour. Initially, they thought it was a brain tumour. After two weeks of biopsies and testing, they found out it was embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the head and neck area.

They gave us a 43-week treatment plan, with 28 radiation therapy sessions and CT scans every three months. He was doing really well in his treatment. He was–I don't know, I'd say he was doing really well. Each–the first two CT scans he got, they were really good. The tumour was shrunk a lot. They thought it was just scar tissue left, so we were all happy, really excited.

It wasn't up until August 31st when Brody started to seizure. Everyone was shocked, confused. We thought Brody was doing well. We thought he was beating this. After CT scans, that's when the doctor told us there was nothing else they could do for our son and that he was going to die.

Brody died on September 1st, 2015. After his funeral, we all made a promise to never move on but to move forward with his legacy. And I think we've fulfilled that with the Team Brody Foundation. We've held meat draws, blood drives, a successful ball hockey tournament. We're planning a rock show next year. We're doing all these good things. All these proceeds go to families that are affected in Manitoba by childhood cancer awareness, whether it's gas money, you know, rent, mortgages, whatever we can do to help, because the one thing you can't replace is time, and if we can help provide time for these families, then, hey, you know, that's our goal.

* (18:40)

Any form of cancer is horrible, and I would never, ever wish this illness on anyone. But, as parents, I feel like we need to do more for our children. When they're born, there's an unwritten oath that we have to protect them, and I feel like with this bill that's heading in the right direction. It's simple: more awareness equals more funding; more funding equals more research; more research equals better treatment and prognosis.

Thank you for the time for letting me speak.

Mr. Chairperson: Thank you, Mr. Birrell.

Mr. Wayne Ewasko (Lac du Bonnet): Thanks, Jordan, for coming and sharing your story. And I know that to you and Tori–I know Sheena and haven't had the pleasure of meeting absolutely everybody with you, but the Brody Foundation is quite important. And I know that we've got other foundations as well that are working very, very hard as far as childhood cancer awareness, and you know, I know everybody's heart goes out to you guys. And I guess the point I want to make is that there's those various stages of grief, right, and you could just say why, you know, why me, Lord, or Creator, or whoever, you know, but to move forward and to continue trying to bring that awareness, and I know that Denis spoke earlier, but I know that we're going to stay in close contact and we are going to brainstorm with a lot of the people who were able to come the last couple Tuesdays and see what we can do to increase that awareness throughout Manitoba, and that have that spread even farther.

So thanks again, Jordan, it was absolutely an honour to meet you and Tori, and I thank you guys very much, and Sheena for coming out tonight and also for the last couple Tuesdays as well.

Keep up the good work.

Ms. Nahanni Fontaine (St. Johns): So I just want to say miigwech, Jordan, for sharing your story and for your sweet little boy. He looks really, really sweet, and I love that you modelled this after his Halloween costume. So I just want to honour you and your family.

And I, do you have, like, campaigns throughout the year, and do you have, like, an office, or how exactly is this running? [interjection]

Mr. Chairperson: Mr. Birrell.

Mr. Birrell: Oh, sorry. Yes. We're still in the process of actually becoming a charity; we don't have an office or anything. You consider Sheena; her house is the office. Other than that, we're still relatively new to all this.

Ms. Fontaine: I just want to honour you, being so young and going through this and, as my colleague said, and doing good for other people that are going through this. So I absolutely honour you tonight. And I just want you to know, and I want it to be put on the record that any time that I can come and help out, I'm quite a baker, so I love baking for anything. So I put it out there to you that anything you ever need, I'm more than willing to volunteer.

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Thank you for coming in this evening and talking about Brody, sharing some photos–it's pretty clear he's an amazing child–and for all the work you're doing in terms of helping other families who are in the same situation, and raising awareness in what's happening with childhood cancer and why it's important to support it.

Thank you.

Mr. James Teitsma (Radisson): I just wanted to echo those words as well to say thank you, and to all the representatives of the Team Brody Foundation for coming out and for sharing your story. I know from personal experience that going through this kind of a thing with your child, well, makes you grow up real quick as young parents, and you've displayed a maturity well beyond your years. And I think you're–it's a testimony to what you've gone through and what the rest of team Brody has gone through as part of this and I just want to encourage you to continue to move forward, and I believe it was asked earlier to Monsieur Foidart what can we as MLAs do, and I think Ms. Fontaine has already taken the lead with her offers of baking, but I think you have good support among members of both sides of this House that if you asked for our help, you will get it.

Mr. Nic Curry (Kildonan): Thank you so much for coming today, of course, and nothing will ever bring your son back, but the work that we are attempting here, when we write bills we make laws for our society; they're not for one person.

But knowing that potentially, very shortly, the government will essentially validate the work you're doing through your son's foundation is the province's work, too, does it in some way make you feel even more valid in the harrowing work you're doing? [interjection]

Mr. Chairperson: Mr. Birrell.

Mr. Birrell: Sorry–I'm jumping to the gun here, but yes. Yes–no, for sure. Yes; I don't know what else to say to that, but yes, no.

Mr. Chairperson: Thank you, Mr. Birrell. The time has expired, but thank you so much for your time tonight. I appreciate it.

I'd now like to call Suzanne Suzio, private citizen.

Do you have any written material or distribution for the committee?

Ms. Suzanne Suzio (Private Citizen): I do not.

Mr. Chairperson: Okay. Please proceed.

Ms. Suzio: Good evening. My name is Suzanne Suzio. I'd like to share my family story with you and why Bill 209 is important to us.

My husband Marco and I have two beautiful sons, Valin and Madox. We are an active and present family. We did everything together–5K races, long bike rides, board game nights. We would even opt out of functions just to spend time as a family. Our lives were perfect and what we thought was safe.

One day, Madox was sitting at the dinner table looking at us with one eye closed. He said his eyes were blurry and needed to close one eye to see us clearly. Since Valin and I both wear glasses, we just thought he needed glasses and how cute he'd look with them.

A few days later, Marco was able to take Madox for an eye appointment, but was told his vision was 20-20. My heart immediately sank, but as a parent, you think that doctor's wrong and you want a second opinion.

The next day, I took Madox for another eye test and I remember tears filling my eyes as the doctor happily announced his sight was 20-20.

I immediately took Madox to his pediatrician, demanding an MRI. After running a few neurological tests on Madox, his doctor agreed and made the call. Unfortunately, the earliest he can get us in was in five days. I was not happy but I had no choice at that time.

By this point, Madox was complaining of fatigue, which was not his norm.

The next day, Madox woke with a complaint of nausea. This was a new symptom and I was not going to wait any longer. We headed to emergency instead of school on March 7th, 2014. After sitting for hours, he finally went in for his 40-minute scan. It didn't take long before we were asked to talk privately with the doctors–never a good thing.

Your son has a brain tumour, was all I remember from that conversation. I broke down and we felt numb hearing those words. We heard what they called this tumour that was invading our son's head–diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG. It means the tumour grows in the most important and delicate part of the brain, intertwined with the healthy cells within the pons of the brain stem. The tumour cannot be removed by surgery and chemotherapy won't touch it.

All the doctors could say to us was sorry, and try and make more memories.

Now, imagine yourself in our shoes. Being told not only does your child have cancer, but that he's going to die because there's no treatment. There's no fight against DIPG–zero per cent survival, just a battle to live with the best quality that we can provide. Those four letters will haunt us until the day we die.

Due to where the tumour grows, Madox began to have one side of weakness, unable to swallow, communicate, and then breathe. He was intubated, and in the ICU five days after diagnosis due to how aggressive DIPG is.

* (18:50)

Radiation was our only option, but it was only palliative, meaning it would–it was to hopefully shrink the tumour enough to give us a little more time. Thirty sessions of having Madox's head pinned and locked to a table while his brain was irradiated, going through that was the only–was only going to give us a little more time. Seems cruel, doesn't it, especially for a child.

After seven long days, the radiation began to help shrink the tumour enough that Madox could be extubated. He was now able to breathe on his own and got some of his swallow back as well. Even though the doctors advised against it, we took Madox home after 16 long days in the hospital, three days before his ninth birthday. We began the daily trips to CancerCare to continue radiation and also to Children's Hospital to begin physiotherapy.

Madox needed to learn how to walk again and use his entire left side. It was a very difficult time for him. Imagine your mind is fully functional, completely aware, yet your body won't do what it wants to. I know for us adults, it would be so frustrating, but to a child, it is also confusing and tormenting. There were many days of tears from frustration, and that was not only from Madox. Day after day, Madox worked very hard to get some strength back to that left side. It was very difficult to know in our minds as parents all his hard work would be in vain. We knew his tumour would one day just take it all away again.

On June 10th, we found out at a repeat MRI and days of headaches that the tumour had already grown back. Day by day, we watched this tumour take something away from Madox, and it was heart-wrenching. There was nothing we could to do stop it. At diagnosis, the doctor gave us the average prognosis–sorry–of eight to 12 months. We only got five months with Madox. He took his last breath August 8, 2014. He was only nine years old.

Valin, being only 14 months older than Madox, had to watch his only brother and best friend suffer for over five months. As any child, he thought it was something he had done to cause Madox to get sick. Valin wouldn't go see Madox intubated while he was in the ICU, but he would sit in the waiting area. How scary that would be for a child to see your brother hooked up to tubes and even a bigger tube helping him breathe. Valin wanted to continue going to school and we agreed, feeling it would be a good distraction for him.

The last month of Madox's life, Valin refused to leave his side. We would have to force him to go out with his friends. When Madox took his last breath, Valin was there. His gut-wrenching scream, don't leave me, will forever echo in my mind. Siblings also suffer during a cancer journey. It truly affects the entire family, even when you don't think children understand. Valin still wakes in the night with nightmares of Madox's death.

Our physical fight may be over, but our personal fight continues. To honour Madox, we've created a non-profit charity called Madox's Warriors. Our mission's to raise awareness and funds for DIPG and brain cancer research through local fundraising activities. We also don't want other families to feel helpless or hopeless like we did during those five agonizing months. We want to make a change for those families currently fighting and those who are yet to be diagnosed.

Some people don't want to listen to stories about childhood cancer because it's sad and hard to hear. But what do you think the child and family living through it feels? At least–the least someone can do is listen and try to make a change. Living and watching your child with cancer is the hardest thing any parent can go through. These families need the support to fight on, knowing they are not alone. Passing of Bill 209 may seem small to some but to others, like my family, it is so big and so important. Awareness is half the battle. My grieving family have felt so alone as we've been trying to climb uphill to spread awareness and raise funds for childhood cancer. With this bill, we will hopefully have more supports and more people wanting to fight alongside us and all the families going through this difficult diagnosis.

As Mr. Rogers once said, when I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.

Finally, I'd like to thank you all for being helpers. Thank you.

Mr. Chairperson: Thank you, Ms. Suzio.

Does the committee have any questions?

Mr. Ewasko: Suzanne, I can't imagine how difficult this is and–but I've had the pleasure to meet just Marco for a few minutes or a few seconds as he was coming here for–I just want to thank you for sharing and keep moving forward.

And this bill is absolutely all about you guys. And I think the–I think Bill 209 is going to be passed again just because of all the supports that all of you have been able to hit the various social media and just speak about it. And, for you to come tonight and share your story as well as, you know, the others, as well, I think that definitely helps everybody understand even a little bit of what you're going through, because I can be honest with you, and I've shared this with you before, I just don't know if–how I would be able to do it. And I thank God every day for my two healthy boys.

But I thank you very much for coming here and sharing your story. And I know that Madox's Warriors, your foundation, will continue to grow and as others with Bill 209 as well. And we will work together to help with that awareness. So thanks again.

Mr. Gerrard: Thank you, Suzanne, for coming here and talking about it. It's not easy. But it certainly gave all of us an appreciation for what it's like to be a parent of a child with cancer, and how tough it can be, and how hard we have to work to try and do what we can to find answers, cures for cancer. And we're still a long way, but, with your foundation and the efforts here, I think we're making a step in that direction. Thank you.

Ms. Fontaine: So, as one mother to another mother, as a mother to two boys, I just say miigwech for sharing your story tonight. And I agree with you that it is really important for people to hear these stories and these experiences and these journeys and–so that we have a better understanding.

And, as I shared the other day in the House, siblings do experience this as well. And, as I shared, it's been well over 25 years since my little sister died, and I never forget her. It does change, that you're able to kind of look on your sibling in a different way and you always have your sibling with you. So I think, you know, as someone–as a sibling who's lost, you know, she was the love of my life, she's always with me, and I'm sure that your son, your–his brother will always, always be with him, even into adulthood. And so I just want to honour you and, again, just say miigwech for sharing your journey.

Mr. Curry: Thank you so much for sharing such an intimate story with us. When I was 18, someone I grew up with at 17 was diagnosed with cancer. And he was with us for three more years. And we always joked with him, oh, he was going to make the NHL, and he was fighting cancer and running up and down the stairs when he was receiving his chemotherapy. And he left two older brothers. And I remember at the funeral that these two older brothers, who–the gentleman and I, we went to school together. But the two older brothers, they were kind of intimidating and–not bullies, but they always were the taller guys, and I had never seen two young men so disarmed and so vulnerable.

And your son who had to see his brother go must, in any way, something like this, this awareness that we're trying to bring forward, is that something where you can take to your son and say, the whole province is thinking about people like your brother? Is this something that he could maybe see as a thing that's good that came out of all this bad?

Mr. Chairperson: Mr. Micklefield–sorry–Ms. Suzio?

Ms. Suzio: I'd like to kind of answer. Valin likes to help sometimes with the charity. And we don't try to push him, but, when it's always cancer and always the charity, it's too much, especially when they're 12. And we don't force them to do anything.

* (19:00)

But he'll–he knows about today. He didn't want to come, because he didn't want to hear the story again, because he knows Mom will cry. He'll probably feel like he needs to cry. So we didn't push it. But he understood what this was for and why we were here on Tuesday, and he actually said good job, mom, like, keep going, because he wants to–for a 12‑year-old boy, like, because boys aren't as aware as girls are, I have to admit. But he even notices why is there always pink ribbons, why isn't there the gold ribbons? And I never, ever had a good answer for him because there's no reason. Right?

So, for him, he understood why we were coming today and what this bill is for, and he–I think he's pretty excited to be able to see more gold and see that what we're fighting for we're going to have a little more support.

Mr. Chairperson: Thank you, Ms. Suzio. I appreciate the time you took tonight to share your story with the committee. Appreciate the time, thank you.

I would now like to call on Abigail Stewart, a private citizen. Abigail?

Abigail, do you have any written material to present to the committee?

Ms. Abigail Stewart (Private Citizen): No.

Mr. Chairperson: Okay, please go ahead with your presentation.

Ms. Stewart: Hello, my name is Abigail. I would like to thank you for Bill 209 for being passed.

This means a lot to me because when I was four years old I was diagnosed with multisystem LCH. I have had many skin biopsies, bone biopsies, extra surgeries, MRIs, and many, many blood tests. I had two tumours, one three-inch in the skull and one by my eye. I underwent a year of chemo and high doses of steroids.

On my fifth birthday I had to go to CancerCare for chemo and my grandma brought cake for me, the nurses and the doctors to celebrate.

I had a PICC line for chemo treatment until one day I got out of bed with a blue line hanging out of my arm. After my line fell out I had to finish chemo through treatments with IVs. Chemo made me feel sick and tired and when I finished treatment through the IV it would burn.

During kindergarten I had to have major dental surgery because my teeth began to disappear from steroids.

Through my time at CancerCare I met friends and lost friends, more friends that I can count on my hands. I do the Relay For Life in honour of Finlay [phonetic], Larson [phonetic], Brooklyn [phonetic], and many others. I do the relay also because I feel like I'm helping people like me to have healthier lives.

I am very thankful that my mom and dad and family are my biggest supporters. I am also thankful that September will be recognized as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

I hope to see as much gold as we do of pink in October.

In the last four years I have had lots of hurdles to go through with my skin, ears and my right leg. I have had a surgery on my ears this last–this past July, and I can hear better now than I have in a long time. I still go through struggles but I wish–I will be five years in remission in May, 2017. So that's why Bill 209 being passed is important.

When I drive by a car dealership it is–it's all pink balloons, why can't it be gold balloons?

Mr. Chairperson: Well, thank you very much Abigail, Ms. Stewart, for your presentation this evening.

And I'll now open it up to the committee if there are any questions.

Mr. Ewasko: Abby [phonetic], it's so nice that you joined us this evening and gave us your presentation. Very well done.

And I think whoever is the politician in the area where you live, I think is looking over their shoulder in the next few years. So very, very well done, and I thank you and I do still have to show you the picture of your art work that you created for last Tuesday hanging in my office. So I'll make sure I get that over to you. I want you to keep fighting and keep spreading the good word, right? I think together we'll try to–with all of us, we're going to try to paint the province gold and keep it moving. Okay?

Thank you very much. It was very nice to meet you.

Ms. Fontaine: You are, like, extraordinary. You are so sweet. You're–I'm so just amazed and in awe of you being able to sit here in front of all these scary people in this big, scary room. I just want to say that you are just extraordinary. You're just an extraordinary young girl, and I just want to say I honour you, and I just want to honour your mom as well–I can see your mom is one of your biggest supporters–and you're just extraordinary. I'm just absolutely in love with you. You're amazing.

Mr. Gerrard: Thank you for coming in and talking about your own experience. It helps everyone here to understand how real it is, how tough it is, but also we think you're pretty amazing for what you're able to do, and we just want to keep it up and do what we can to try and help you, okay?

Mr. Curry: Ms. Stewart, your strength that you exude in your casual discussion of how you fought off cancer is inspiring, and many of us who have had years of experience, I think, in many ways, feel that we are the learners to your story. And your story is one where you speak about if only you could've seen around in your community that strength of support that you seem to be able have from almost nowhere.

Do you think that a bill like this recognizing the importance of awareness for the challenges you went through can help people who go through exactly what you go through, which, we fear, you're, unfortunately, maybe not the last person to courageously beat this horrible, horrible disease? Do you think that that could help the next one who has to go through this? [interjection]

Mr. Chairperson: Ms. Stewart. Yes?

Ms. Stewart: Yes.

Mr. Chairperson: Thank you.

Mr. Teitsma: Abby [phonetic], you did an amazing job here tonight. I'm very proud of you. I'm also proud to say that I've known your mom since before you were born, so. And it's been truly an honour and a privilege to watch you grow up and fight through the things that you've gone through.

Your public speaking capabilities are quite advanced, I must say. You've really blossomed into a very capable young woman, and I look forward to seeing you and supporting you in months and years ahead. You know, you can always come, give me a dingle anytime you need a pledge on your donation forms, right, or run across me while I'm door-knocking, as the case may be, which did happen once. So, yes, I'm just super proud of you, and keep it up, okay?

Hon. Andrew Micklefield (Rossmere): Abby [phonetic], there are things about your life which most people don't have. But you have something that–you have a gift that is very unusual. You have a speaking gift. And I think there's a lot more speaking for you to do. In fact, I pray that you have a long life and that your gift of communication will touch many lives, because you do have a gift of communication. For you to stand there in this room and say what you said the way that you did is extraordinary, and I want to bless that gift, and I certainly do pray that it will, in turn, bless many, many more people. And so thank you for sharing your story.

You know, in this building, there's a lot of papers that go round and policies and arguments and, oh, man, but you have helped remind us, I think all–everybody who said anything today has helped to remind us that what we're doing really is about people. And so, thank you very much. And I certainly hope that you have more opportunities because I know there's something inside of you that's going to bless lots of people. So, thanks.

* (19:10)

Mr. Chairperson: Well, thank you, Ms. Stewart, Abigail, for your presentation tonight. You are just one amazing young lady. I wish you all the best. Thank you.

That concludes the list of presenters I have before me. Are there any other persons in attendance that wish to make a presentation?

Seeing none, we will proceed immediately to clause-by-clause consideration of the bills.

* * *

Mr. Chairperson: Does the committee wish to proceed with the bills in numerical order? [Agreed]

During the consideration of a bill, the preamble, the enacting clause and the title are postponed until all other clauses have been considered in their proper order.

Also, if there is agreement from the committee, the Chair will call clauses in blocks that conform to pages with the understanding that we will stop at any particular clause or clauses where members may have comments, questions or amendments to propose. Is that agreed? [Agreed]

Bill 208–The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Day Act

(Continued)

Mr. Chairperson: We will now proceed to clause-by-clause consideration of Bill 8–or pardon me, 208.

Does the bill sponsor, the honourable member from Emerson, have any opening statement?

Mr. Cliff Graydon (Emerson): Thank you very much. I certainly appreciate the support that this bill had in the House. I think it's important that we move forward with this bill. As I've said earlier tonight, it gives many people an opportunity to understand where the RCMP started and a lot of us just have the opportunity to meet them if we're speeding. But, at the same time, they do a lot of things in the community that they don't get any benefit for, or don't get any recognitions for.

So, with those few words, I would suggest that we carry forward and pass this bill.

Mr. Chairperson: We thank the member.

Does any other member wish to make an opening statement on Bill 208? Okay.

Clause 1 through 3–pass; preamble–pass; enacting clause–pass; title–pass. Bill be reported.

Bill 209–The Childhood Cancer Awareness Month Act

(Continued)

Mr. Chairperson: We will now deal with clause-by-clause consideration of Bill 209.

Does the bill sponsor, the honourable member from Lac du Bonnet, have an opening statement? The honourable–or, Mr. Ewasko.

Mr. Wayne Ewasko (Lac du Bonnet): I'm going to make some brief comments, and the comments are just basically thank you to absolutely everybody who showed up to the Legislature, the two Tuesdays, and I am going to have to also put a shout-out to Ms. Dana Wood who brought this to my attention a few months ago, and had asked if we could consider creating a bill to recognize September here in Manitoba as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. And so I'd like to thank her and, as well, absolutely everybody who came today to present, and all the supporting families and relatives. And I know that we are going to brainstorm various different ways that we can make September gold through and through, and just to make it happen.

So this bill was because of all of you, and to all those families and parents and kids who we've either lost or who have beaten cancer, it's absolutely for all of you. So, thank you very much. And I thank my colleagues on both sides of the House for supporting the bill and allowing it to proceed, and within the next week, pass and receive royal assent.

So thank you.

Mr. Chairperson: We thank the member.

Does any other member wish to make an opening statement on Bill 209?

Ms. Nahanni Fontaine (St. Johns): I just want to acknowledge and honour and congratulate my colleague for bringing forward Bill 209. Of course, it's predicated upon the hard work and dedication and commitment of everybody here, for folks that aren't here tonight. And so I honour all of the work that you've done, and I think that, you know, as I shared the other day in the House, you know, childhood cancer–having a loved one go through that or pass from childhood cancer, it changes you forever. It is something that unless you have lived through it, I don't think that–it's really difficult for people to understand what it's like to actually watch just a baby, just a child, suffer so much, and there's absolutely nothing that you can do to change that or to help that, and all you want to do is take on that pain and that sickness for yourself.

And so, you know, I, again, just want to honour and I just want to say that at the end of the day, and I'm sure that all the colleagues at the table, I think this has no political stripes; it affects everybody, and so I'm really pleased that we can all sit here and support this bill and, of course, support the families and, more importantly, support all the children that are affected by this. So I just say that. Miigwech.

Mr. Chairperson: Does any other member wish to make an opening statement on Bill 209?

Clause 1–pass; clauses 2 and 3–pass; preamble–pass; enacting clause–pass; title–pass. Bill be reported.

* * *

Mr. Chairperson: Now, that concludes business before us this evening. Before we rise, I would like to note that tonight's meeting happens to be one of our Legislative counsellor drafter's very last committee meetings before he retires. David Meighen started at the Legislative Counsel back in 1996, was Registrar of Regulations from 2011 to 2015 and has drafted numerous pieces of legislation for the Department of Infrastructure and the Department of Agriculture. He has spent many late evenings in these committee rooms and is also known to his office as their Swiss Army knife, as he has an act for fixing and keeping things going.

On behalf of the committee members, I would like to thank David for all his years of dedicated service and wish him well in his retirement. Enjoy.

The hour being 7:18, what is the will of the committee?

Some Honourable Members: Rise.

Mr. Chairperson: Rise? Committee rise.

COMMITTEE ROSE AT: 7:18 p.m.